Googlebot, Google’s robotic-like program that surf’s the web looking for web pages to index, is a lot like a puppy. Give it lots of goodies and it will return often for more. Ignore it and it will ignore you.
Having an older site like Easy Diabetic Diets has the advantage of overcoming Google’s Sandbox (as I blogged last time). On the other hand, you have the disadvantge of Google ignoring your site because it hasn’t changed in a very long time.
The last time Googlebot visited my diet site was on November 21, 2006. In the last week, I have added many pages of new material but still no visit from Googlebot. I added links to the site from several of my established sites one of which is indexed every three or four days. Still no Googlebot. I also added a sitemap so Google would know which pages I wanted to have indexed. And still no Googlebot.
I know that once I get the site indexed, it will be much easier to get it indexed often. This is an important consideration when doing search engine optimization. You will not be able to measure the results of your work until the site is indexed. It is preferrable to make a small number of changes between each index so you are able to measure the results. Too many changes and you won’t know what worked.
I first learned this lesson several years ago when working on LDS Music Online. I was struggling to move up in the rankings. At 19th place, I was barely holding on to page two. I made a change to the site and then waited for the result. It was not a good move. Three days later, Google indexed my site and I suddenly plunged into the abyss. Imagine what my frustration would have been if I were being indexed every couple of months. It was like being offline. I quickly changed the site back to its original state and within three days Google did another index that restored me to my former 19th ranking.
When you are doing SEO, make changes to your site often. Frequent changes requires Googlebot to make frequent visits to keep Google’s index up-to-date. If your site gets indexed and there have been no changes made since the last visit, Googlebot may decided it is wasting resources by visiting your site too often. Changes don’t have to be large. They just need to be often.
I’ll let you know when I get my next visit from Googlebot.
– Rich Pulham
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